Just a quick background on what makes the aurora...the sun gets so hot that is releases a thin layer of gas that expands outward into space. This gas is primarily made up of electrons and protons. When it expands it encounters the Earth's magnetic field (or planet's with magnetic poles), which also expands into space until it is balanced by the solar wind! When the energetic particles penetrate the upper atmosphere they collide with atoms, which take and store some of this energy. When the atoms do this they become excited and to return to an un-excited state, they release a photon (the light!). So now you know!!!
Last night was a fairly active aurora and we walked right outside the cabin and looked up!
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